Robin Hood

Today I have some time on my hands, so I'll try to review Robin Hood, which had premiere not too long ago.

One thing that I have to go through first, is the constant notion of that the director, Ridley Scott, also did the movie Gladiator (which in my mind was a very good movie, but I may review that movie one day).

Normally, I don't think that the director makes the movie, since we have some exceptions, like John Hughes that made the Breakfast Club, and then went into making horrible movies like Home Alone 3 and Flubber.

But, then we have James Cameron, who showed his excellence by his absence.

In the Terminator, and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, both directors James Cameron and Mario Kassar were directors. The two movies have recieved cult status in the "tech noir" genre. But when it came to Terminator 3, James Cameron had dropped out (since he at that time had noted that he would stop directing movies after he was done with Titanic), and Jonathan Mostow dropped in as the director.

I don't think that I need to say more about the results, since the movie isn't viewed in high regard by the fans to this day.

Back to my point, Ridley Scott showed that the director makes the movie, since his excellence in Gladiator shone through this movie. His choice of making Russel Crowe (who incidentally may be twins with Gerard Butler) the hero again was a relief for me, since he is a good actor when it comes to heroic characters. I am not speaking about the Superman type of heroes, but the kind of hero that is a man that has crafted his skills by discipline, and is a loyal kind of man.

Although many readers may disagree, I think that Robin Hood was in class with Gladiator. Just keep the hate-mail away, please.

Let's dissect this movie, shall we?

The time is the 13th Century. We are in France, in the battlefields where Robin Longstride fights along the Englishmen against the French, in a crusade led by King Richard, a failed campaign which has lead a great loss of gold.

At the death of King Richard, Robin Longstride decides to flee back to England to start new lives as free men. He is accompanied by some friends, Will Scarlett, Alan-a-Dale and Little John.

The knights that were supposed to bring the crown of King Richard back to England are ambushed

by a pack of men lead by Godfrey, an Englishman that serves the Royal Family of England.

Luckily, Robin Longstride and his men kill Godfrey's men, and Godfrey manages to escape.

All the knights but one are killed, Robin Loxley of Nottingham.

Robin Longstride promises Robin Loxley to take his sword back to his father in Nottingham, since he had "borrowed" it without his father's permission.

Robin Longstride notices that this is a chance for them to get to England, and dress up in the Knights' armors, and Robin Longstride takes the last name of Loxley.

They get on the boat that awaits them, with the crown, and are lead to the Royal family, where they give back the crown, and the brother of King Richard, Edward, becomes the new King.

This new King is a very sinister one, not honoring his people or showing mercy to them.

Robin finally arrives to Nottingham as Robin Loxley, where he is taken in by Walter, the real Robin Loxley's father. Walter finds out quite easily that his son is dead, and decides that Robin takes his place and pretends to be Robin Loxley, and takes Lady Marian as his wife.

Robin finds out that the village hasn't got any more crops left to be able to manage, and that the only crops left are being given to the Bishop.

Together with Brother Friar Tuck and his men, he makes a plan: "what if the crops were never to reach the bishop?". They ambush the cart and steal the crops back and plant them into the soil.

Lady Marian, at first not impressed by Robin, sees his qualities as a righteous man when she finds out about his noble deed.

Meanwhile Godfried is making sinister plans, making King Edward to approve over a plan, where Godfried and his men are to collect "taxes" to increase the welfare of the Royal Family, by force.

Not too late, however, it's found out that Godfried's men are French soldiers that are coming into England without anyone knowing.

The King negotiates with the lords and they settle for that if they win against the French, they will regain their freedom as men.

They battle the French, and win with a blast, but in the end, King Edward regrets his choice, burns the settlement up, and declares Robin Longstride, also known as Robin Loxley or Robin of the Hood, an outlaw.

Robin takes residence in the Sherwood forest together with Lady Marian, Brother Tuck and the Orphans (from the previous attacks).

And that's how the story began.

In retrospect, this movie was a bit like "Batman Begins", but rather "Robin Hood begins".

It showed Robin Hood's previous life before he became an outlaw, aswell as his way to become Robin Hood, the hero of English folklore, whom many ballads were written about.

About the movie, the sceneries were realistically made, convincing the viewer of that we were watching the England and France of the 13th Century.

Although some of the fighting scenes were exaggerated, we cannot forget that we are talking about a character from the folklore, that probably could in some verses "kill three men with but one arrow".

The fighting and the plot was intriguing, and kept me awake for most of the movie.

But I think that other viewers may not be as fascinated as I am, since I am weak for movies whose timeline are placed before the 18th century.

The music wasn't anything extraordinary, but still not that bad. It added to the movie but wasn't that memorable (thinking of Gladiator here, which had a couple of amazing scores).

All of all, I think that any Robin Hood fan should go watch this movie. It's pretty consistent with the stories of Robin Hood.

And also, if you liked Gladiator, go watch this movie, you won't be disappointed.

Or if you hate Robin Hood, you can always watch him and his gang getting their asses get kicked in Shrek.